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Proposition 2. Let \( G \) be a group and let \( a, b \in G \) . The equations \( {ax} = b \) and \( {ya} = b \) have unique solutions for \( x, y \in G \) . In particular, the left and right cancellation laws hold in \( G \), i.e.,\n\n(1) if \( {au} = {av} \), then \( u = v \), and\n\n(2) if \( {ub} = {vb} \), then \(...
Proof: We can solve \( {ax} = b \) by multiplying both sides on the left by \( {a}^{-1} \) and simplifying to get \( x = {a}^{-1}b \) . The uniqueness of \( x \) follows because \( {a}^{-1} \) is unique. Similarly, if \( {ya} = b, y = b{a}^{-1} \) . If \( {au} = {av} \), multiply both sides on the left by \( {a}^{-1} \...
Yes
Proposition 1. (The Subgroup Criterion) A subset \( H \) of a group \( G \) is a subgroup if and only if\n\n(1) \( H \neq \varnothing \), and\n\n(2) for all \( x, y \in H, x{y}^{-1} \in H \) .
Proof: If \( H \) is a subgroup of \( G \), then certainly (1) and (2) hold because \( H \) contains the identity of \( G \) and the inverse of each of its elements and because \( H \) is closed under multiplication.\n\nIt remains to show conversely that if \( H \) satisfies both (1) and (2), then \( H \leq G \) . Let ...
Yes
Proposition 2. If \( H = \langle x\rangle \), then \( \left| H\right| = \left| x\right| \) (where if one side of this equality is infinite, so is the other). More specifically\n\n(1) if \( \left| H\right| = n < \infty \), then \( {x}^{n} = 1 \) and \( 1, x,{x}^{2},\ldots ,{x}^{n - 1} \) are all the distinct elements of...
Proof: Let \( \left| x\right| = n \) and first consider the case when \( n < \infty \) . The elements \( 1, x,{x}^{2},\ldots ,{x}^{n - 1} \) are distinct because if \( {x}^{a} = {x}^{b} \), with, say, \( 0 \leq a < b < n \), then \( {x}^{b - a} = {x}^{0} = 1 \), contrary to \( n \) being the smallest positive power of ...
Yes
Proposition 3. Let \( G \) be an arbitrary group, \( x \in G \) and let \( m, n \in \mathbb{Z} \) . If \( {x}^{n} = 1 \) and \( {x}^{m} = 1 \), then \( {x}^{d} = 1 \), where \( d = \left( {m, n}\right) \) . In particular, if \( {x}^{m} = 1 \) for some \( m \in \mathbb{Z} \), then \( \left| x\right| \) divides \( m \) .
Proof: By the Euclidean Algorithm (see Section 0.2 (6)) there exist integers \( r \) and \( s \) such that \( d = {mr} + {ns} \), where \( d \) is the g.c.d. of \( m \) and \( n \) . Thus\n\n\[ \n{x}^{d} = {x}^{{mr} + {ns}} = {\left( {x}^{m}\right) }^{r}{\left( {x}^{n}\right) }^{s} = {1}^{r}{1}^{s} = 1.\n\]\n\nThis pro...
Yes
Theorem 4. Any two cyclic groups of the same order are isomorphic. More specifically, (1) if \( n \in {\mathbb{Z}}^{ + } \) and \( \langle x\rangle \) and \( \langle y\rangle \) are both cyclic groups of order \( n \), then the map\n\n\[ \varphi : \langle x\rangle \rightarrow \langle y\rangle \]\n\n\[ {x}^{k} \mapsto {...
Proof: Suppose \( \langle x\rangle \) and \( \langle y\rangle \) are both cyclic groups of order \( n \) . Let \( \varphi : \langle x\rangle \rightarrow \langle y\rangle \) be defined by \( \varphi \left( {x}^{k}\right) = {y}^{k} \) ; we must first prove \( \varphi \) is well defined, that is,\n\n\[ \text{if}{x}^{r} = ...
Yes
Proposition 5. Let \( G \) be a group, let \( x \in G \) and let \( a \in \mathbb{Z} - \{ 0\} \) . (1) If \( \left| x\right| = \infty \), then \( \left| {x}^{a}\right| = \infty \) .
Proof: (1) By way of contradiction assume \( \left| x\right| = \infty \) but \( \left| {x}^{a}\right| = m < \infty \) . By definition of order \[ 1 = {\left( {x}^{a}\right) }^{m} = {x}^{am}. \] Also, \[ {x}^{-{am}} = {\left( {x}^{am}\right) }^{-1} = {1}^{-1} = 1. \] Now one of \( a{\;m} \) or \( - a{\;m} \) is positive...
Yes
Proposition 6. Let \( H = \langle x\rangle \). (2) Assume \( \left| x\right| = n < \infty \). Then \( H = \left\langle {x}^{a}\right\rangle \) if and only if \( \left( {a, n}\right) = 1 \). In particular, the number of generators of \( H \) is \( \varphi \left( n\right) \) (where \( \varphi \) is Euler’s \( \varphi \) ...
Proof: We leave (1) as an exercise. In (2) if \( \left| x\right| = n < \infty \), Proposition 2 says \( {x}^{a} \) generates a subgroup of \( H \) of order \( \left| {x}^{a}\right| \). This subgroup equals all of \( H \) if and only if \( \left| {x}^{a}\right| = \left| x\right| \). By Proposition 5,\n\n\[ \left| {x}^{a...
No
Theorem 7. Let \( H = \langle x\rangle \) be a cyclic group.\n\n(1) Every subgroup of \( H \) is cyclic. More precisely, if \( K \leq H \), then either \( K = \{ 1\} \) or \( K = \left\langle {x}^{d}\right\rangle \), where \( d \) is the smallest positive integer such that \( {x}^{d} \in K \) .
Proof: (1) Let \( K \leq H \) . If \( K = \{ 1\} \), the proposition is true for this subgroup, so we assume \( K \neq \{ 1\} \) . Thus there exists some \( a \neq 0 \) such that \( {x}^{a} \in K \) . If \( a < 0 \) then since \( K \) is a group also \( {x}^{-a} = {\left( {x}^{a}\right) }^{-1} \in K \) . Hence \( K \) ...
Yes
Proposition 8. If \( \mathcal{A} \) is any nonempty collection of subgroups of \( G \), then the intersection of all members of \( \mathcal{A} \) is also a subgroup of \( G \) .
Proof: This is an easy application of the subgroup criterion (see also Exercise 10, Section 1). Let\n\n\[ K = \mathop{\bigcap }\limits_{{H \in \mathcal{A}}}H \]\n\nSince each \( H \in \mathcal{A} \) is a subgroup, \( 1 \in H \), so \( 1 \in K \), that is, \( K \neq \varnothing \). If \( a, b \in K \), then \( a, b \in ...
No
Proposition 9. \( \bar{A} = \langle A\rangle \) .
Proof: We first prove \( \bar{A} \) is a subgroup. Note that \( \bar{A} \neq \varnothing \) (even if \( A = \varnothing \) ). If \( a, b \in \bar{A} \) with \( a = {a}_{1}^{{\epsilon }_{1}}{a}_{2}^{{\epsilon }_{2}}\ldots {a}_{n}^{{\epsilon }_{n}} \) and \( b = {b}_{1}^{{\delta }_{1}}{b}_{2}^{{\delta }_{2}}\ldots {b}_{m...
Yes
Proposition 1. Let \( G \) and \( H \) be groups and let \( \varphi : G \rightarrow H \) be a homomorphism.\n\n(1) \( \varphi \left( {1}_{G}\right) = {1}_{H} \), where \( {1}_{G} \) and \( {1}_{H} \) are the identities of \( G \) and \( H \), respectively.\n\n(2) \( \varphi \left( {g}^{-1}\right) = \varphi {\left( g\ri...
Proof: (1) Since \( \varphi \left( {1}_{G}\right) = \varphi \left( {{1}_{G}{1}_{G}}\right) = \varphi \left( {1}_{G}\right) \varphi \left( {1}_{G}\right) \), the cancellation laws show that (1) holds.\n\n(2) \( \varphi \left( {1}_{G}\right) = \varphi \left( {g{g}^{-1}}\right) = \varphi \left( g\right) \varphi \left( {g}...
Yes
Proposition 2. Let \( \varphi : G \rightarrow H \) be a homomorphism of groups with kernel \( K \) . Let\n\n\( X \in G/K \) be the fiber above \( a \), i.e., \( X = {\varphi }^{-1}\left( a\right) \) . Then\n\n(1) For any \( u \in X,\;X = \{ {uk} \mid k \in K\} \)\n\n(2) For any \( u \in X,\;X = \{ {ku} \mid k \in K\} \...
Proof: We prove (1) and leave the proof of (2) as an exercise. Let \( u \in X \) so, by definition of \( X,\varphi \left( u\right) = a \) . Let\n\n\[ \n{uK} = \{ {uk} \mid k \in K\} .\n\]\n\nWe first prove \( {uK} \subseteq X \) . For any \( k \in K \), \n\n\[ \n\varphi \left( {uk}\right) = \varphi \left( u\right) \var...
No
Proposition 4. Let \( N \) be any subgroup of the group \( G \). The set of left cosets of \( N \) in \( G \) form a partition of \( G \). Furthermore, for all \( u, v \in G,{uN} = {vN} \) if and only if \( {v}^{-1}u \in N \) and in particular, \( {uN} = {vN} \) if and only if \( u \) and \( v \) are representatives of...
Proof: First of all note that since \( N \) is a subgroup of \( G,1 \in N \). Thus \( g = g \cdot 1 \in {gN} \) for all \( g \in G \), i.e.,\n\n\[ G = \mathop{\bigcup }\limits_{{g \in G}}{gN} \]\n\nTo show that distinct left cosets have empty intersection, suppose \( {uN} \cap {vN} \neq \varnothing \). We show \( {uN} ...
Yes
Proposition 5. Let \( G \) be a group and let \( N \) be a subgroup of \( G \). (1) The operation on the set of left cosets of \( N \) in \( G \) described by \[ {uN} \cdot {vN} = \left( {uv}\right) N \] is well defined if and only if \( {gn}{g}^{-1} \in N \) for all \( g \in G \) and all \( n \in N \). (2) If the abov...
Proof: (1) Assume first that this operation is well defined, that is, for all \( u, v \in G \), \[ \text{if}u,{u}_{1} \in {uN}\text{and}v,{v}_{1} \in {vN}\;\text{then}\;{uvN} = {u}_{1}{v}_{1}N\text{.} \] Let \( g \) be an arbitrary element of \( G \) and let \( n \) be an arbitrary element of \( N \). Letting \( u = 1,...
Yes
Theorem 6. Let \( N \) be a subgroup of the group \( G \) . The following are equivalent:\n\n(1) \( N \trianglelefteq G \)\n\n(2) \( {N}_{G}\left( N\right) = G \) (recall \( {N}_{G}\left( N\right) \) is the normalizer in \( G \) of \( N \) )\n\n(3) \( {gN} = {Ng} \) for all \( g \in G \)\n\n(4) the operation on left co...
Proof: We have already done the hard equivalences; the others are left as exercises.
No
Proposition 7. A subgroup \( N \) of the group \( G \) is normal if and only if it is the kernel of some homomorphism.
Proof: If \( N \) is the kernel of the homomorphism \( \varphi \), then Proposition 2 shows that the left cosets of \( N \) are the same as the right cosets of \( N \) (and both are the fibers of the\n\nmap \( \varphi \) ). By (3) of Theorem 6, \( N \) is then a normal subgroup. (Another direct proof of this from the d...
No
Theorem 8. (Lagrange’s Theorem) If \( G \) is a finite group and \( H \) is a subgroup of \( G \) , then the order of \( H \) divides the order of \( G \) (i.e., \( \left| H\right| \left| \right| G \mid \) ) and the number of left cosets of \( H \) in \( G \) equals \( \frac{\left| G\right| }{\left| H\right| } \) .
Proof: Let \( \left| H\right| = n \) and let the number of left cosets of \( H \) in \( G \) equal \( k \) . By\n\n# Proposition 4 the set of left cosets of \( H \) in \( G \) partition \( G \) . By definition of a left coset\n\nthe map:\n\n\[ H \rightarrow {gH}\;\text{ defined by }\;h \mapsto {gh} \]\n\nis a surjectio...
Yes
Corollary 9. If \( G \) is a finite group and \( x \in G \), then the order of \( x \) divides the order of \( G \) . In particular \( {x}^{\left| G\right| } = 1 \) for all \( x \) in \( G \) .
Proof: By Proposition 2.2, \( \left| x\right| = \left| {\langle x\rangle }\right| \) . The first part of the corollary follows from Lagrange’s Theorem applied to \( H = \langle x\rangle \) . The second statement is clear since now \( \left| G\right| \) is a multiple of the order of \( x \) .
Yes
Corollary 10. If \( G \) is a group of prime order \( p \), then \( G \) is cyclic, hence \( G \cong {Z}_{p} \) .
Proof: Let \( x \in G, x \neq 1 \) . Thus \( \left| {\langle x\rangle }\right| > 1 \) and \( \left| {\langle x\rangle }\right| \) divides \( \left| G\right| \) . Since \( \left| G\right| \) is prime we must have \( \left| {\langle x\rangle }\right| = \left| G\right| \), hence \( G = \langle x\rangle \) is cyclic (with ...
No
Theorem 11. (Cauchy’s Theorem) If \( G \) is a finite group and \( p \) is a prime dividing \( \left| G\right| \) , then \( G \) has an element of order \( p \) .
Proof: We shall give a proof of this in the next chapter and another elegant proof is outlined in Exercise 9.
No
Proposition 13. If \( H \) and \( K \) are finite subgroups of a group then\n\n\[ \left| {HK}\right| = \frac{\left| H\right| \left| K\right| }{\left| H \cap K\right| } \]
Proof: Notice that \( {HK} \) is a union of left cosets of \( K \), namely,\n\n\[ {HK} = \mathop{\bigcup }\limits_{{h \in H}}{hK} \]\n\nSince each coset of \( K \) has \( \left| K\right| \) elements it suffices to find the number of distinct left cosets of the form \( {hK}, h \in H \) . But \( {h}_{1}K = {h}_{2}K \) fo...
Yes
Proposition 14. If \( H \) and \( K \) are subgroups of a group, \( {HK} \) is a subgroup if and only if \( {HK} = {KH} \) .
Proof: Assume first that \( {HK} = {KH} \) and let \( a, b \in {HK} \) . We prove \( a{b}^{-1} \in {HK} \) so \( {HK} \) is a subgroup by the subgroup criterion. Let\n\n\[ a = {h}_{1}{k}_{1}\;\text{ and }\;b = {h}_{2}{k}_{2}, \]\n\nfor some \( {h}_{1},{h}_{2} \in H \) and \( {k}_{1},{k}_{2} \in K \) . Thus \( {b}^{-1} ...
Yes
Corollary 15. If \( H \) and \( K \) are subgroups of \( G \) and \( H \leq {N}_{G}\left( K\right) \), then \( {HK} \) is a subgroup of \( G \) . In particular, if \( K \trianglelefteq G \) then \( {HK} \leq G \) for any \( H \leq G \) .
Proof: We prove \( {HK} = {KH} \) . Let \( h \in H, k \in K \) . By assumption, \( {hk}{h}^{-1} \in K \) , hence\n\n\[ \n{hk} = \left( {{hk}{h}^{-1}}\right) h \in {KH}.\n\]\n\nThis proves \( {HK} \subseteq {KH} \) . Similarly, \( {kh} = h\left( {{h}^{-1}{kh}}\right) \in {HK} \), proving the reverse containment. The cor...
Yes
Corollary 17. Let \( \varphi : G \rightarrow H \) be a homomorphism of groups.\n\n(1) \( \varphi \) is injective if and only if \( \ker \varphi = 1 \) .
Proof: Exercise.
No
Theorem 18. (The Second or Diamond Isomorphism Theorem) Let \( G \) be a group, let \( A \) and \( B \) be subgroups of \( G \) and assume \( A \leq {N}_{G}\left( B\right) \) . Then \( {AB} \) is a subgroup of \( G \) , \( B \trianglelefteq {AB}, A \cap B \trianglelefteq A \) and \( {AB}/B \cong A/A \cap B \) .
Proof: By Corollary 15, \( {AB} \) is a subgroup of \( G \) . Since \( A \leq {N}_{G}\left( B\right) \) by assumption and \( B \leq {N}_{G}\left( B\right) \) trivially, it follows that \( {AB} \leq {N}_{G}\left( B\right) \), i.e., \( B \) is a normal subgroup of the subgroup \( {AB} \) .\n\nSince \( B \) is normal in \...
Yes
Theorem 19. (The Third Isomorphism Theorem) Let \( G \) be a group and let \( H \) and \( K \) be normal subgroups of \( G \) with \( H \leq K \). Then \( K/H \trianglelefteq G/H \) and\n\n\[ \left( {G/H}\right) /\left( {K/H}\right) \cong G/K\text{.} \]
Proof: We leave as an easy exercise the verification that \( K/H \trianglelefteq G/H \). Define\n\n\[ \varphi : G/H \rightarrow G/K \]\n\n\[ \left( {gH}\right) \mapsto {gK}\text{.} \]\n\nTo show \( \varphi \) is well defined suppose \( {g}_{1}H = {g}_{2}H \). Then \( {g}_{1} = {g}_{2}h \), for some \( h \in H \). Becau...
No
Theorem 20. (The Fourth or Lattice Isomorphism Theorem) Let \( G \) be a group and let \( N \) be a normal subgroup of \( G \) . Then there is a bijection from the set of subgroups \( A \) of \( G \) which contain \( N \) onto the set of subgroups \( \bar{A} = A/N \) of \( G/N \) . In particular, every subgroup of \( \...
Proof: The complete preimage of a subgroup in \( G/N \) is a subgroup of \( G \) by Exercise 1 of Section 1. The numerous details of the theorem to check are all completely straightforward. We therefore leave the proof of this theorem to the exercises.
No
Proposition 21. If \( G \) is a finite abelian group and \( p \) is a prime dividing \( \left| G\right| \), then \( G \) contains an element of order \( p \) .
Proof: The proof proceeds by induction on \( \left| G\right| \), namely, we assume the result is valid for every group whose order is strictly smaller than the order of \( G \) and then prove the result valid for \( G \) (this is sometimes referred to as complete induction). Since \( \left| G\right| > 1 \), there is an...
Yes
Theorem 22. (Jordan-Hölder) Let \( G \) be a finite group with \( G \neq 1 \) . Then\n\n(1) \( G \) has a composition series and\n\n(2) The composition factors in a composition series are unique, namely, if \( 1 = {N}_{0} \leq {N}_{1} \leq \cdots \leq {N}_{r} = G \) and \( 1 = {M}_{0} \leq {M}_{1} \leq \cdots \leq {M}_...
Proof: This is fairly straightforward. Since we shall not explicitly use this theorem to prove others in the text we outline the proof in a series of exercises at the end of this section.
No
Proposition 23. The map \( \epsilon : {S}_{n} \rightarrow \{ \pm 1\} \) is a homomorphism (where \( \{ \pm 1\} \) is a multiplicative version of the cyclic group of order 2).
Proof: By definition,\n\n\[ \left( {\tau \sigma }\right) \left( \Delta \right) = \mathop{\prod }\limits_{{1 \leq i < j \leq n}}\left( {{x}_{{\tau \sigma }\left( i\right) } - {x}_{{\tau \sigma }\left( j\right) }}\right) \]\n\nSuppose that \( \sigma \left( \Delta \right) \) has exactly \( k \) factors of the form \( {x}_...
Yes
Proposition 24. Transpositions are all odd permutations and \( \epsilon \) is a surjective homomorphism.
Moreover, since \( \epsilon \) is a homomorphism and every \( \sigma \in {S}_{n} \) is a product of transpositions, say \( \sigma = {\tau }_{1}{\tau }_{2}\cdots {\tau }_{k} \), then \( \epsilon \left( \sigma \right) = \epsilon \left( {\tau }_{1}\right) \cdots \epsilon \left( {\tau }_{k}\right) \) ; since \( \epsilon \l...
Yes
Proposition 25. The permutation \( \sigma \) is odd if and only if the number of cycles of even length in its cycle decomposition is odd.
For example, \( \sigma = \left( {123456}\right) \left( {789}\right) \left( {1011}\right) \left( {12131415}\right) \left( {161718}\right) \) has 3 cycles of even length, so \( \epsilon \left( \sigma \right) = - 1 \) . On the other hand, \( \tau = \left( {1128104}\right) \left( {213}\right) \left( {5117}\right) \left( {6...
No
Proposition 2. Let \( G \) be a group acting on the nonempty set \( A \) . The relation on \( A \) defined by\n\n\[ a \sim b\;\text{ if and only if }\;a = g \cdot b\text{ for some }g \in G \]\n\nis an equivalence relation. For each \( a \in A \), the number of elements in the equivalence class containing \( a \) is \( ...
Proof: We first prove \( \sim \) is an equivalence relation. By axiom 2 of an action, \( a = 1 \cdot a \) for all \( a \in A \), i.e., \( a \sim a \) and the relation is reflexive. If \( a \sim b \), then \( a = g \cdot b \) for some \( b \in G \) so that\n\n\[ {g}^{-1} \cdot a = {g}^{-1} \cdot \left( {g \cdot b}\right...
Yes
Theorem 3. Let \( G \) be a group, let \( H \) be a subgroup of \( G \) and let \( G \) act by left multiplication on the set \( A \) of left cosets of \( H \) in \( G \) . Let \( {\pi }_{H} \) be the associated permutation representation afforded by this action. Then\n\n(1) \( G \) acts transitively on \( A \)\n\n(2) ...
Proof: To see that \( G \) acts transitively on \( A \), let \( {aH} \) and \( {bH} \) be any two elements of \( A \), and let \( g = b{a}^{-1} \) . Then \( g \cdot {aH} = \left( {b{a}^{-1}}\right) {aH} = {bH} \), and so the two arbitrary elements \( {aH} \) and \( {bH} \) of \( A \) lie in the same orbit, which proves...
Yes
Corollary 4. (Cayley's Theorem) Every group is isomorphic to a subgroup of some symmetric group. If \( G \) is a group of order \( n \), then \( G \) is isomorphic to a subgroup of \( {S}_{n} \) .
Proof: Let \( H = 1 \) and apply the preceding theorem to obtain a homomorphism of \( G \) into \( {S}_{G} \) (here we are identifying the cosets of the identity subgroup with the elements of \( G \) ). Since the kernel of this homomorphism is contained in \( H = 1, G \) is isomorphic to its image in \( {S}_{G} \) .
No
Corollary 5. If \( G \) is a finite group of order \( n \) and \( p \) is the smallest prime dividing \( \left| G\right| \) , then any subgroup of index \( p \) is normal.
Proof: Suppose \( H \leq G \) and \( \left| {G : H}\right| = p \) . Let \( {\pi }_{H} \) be the permutation representation afforded by multiplication on the set of left cosets of \( H \) in \( G \), let \( K = \ker {\pi }_{H} \) and let \( \left| {H : K}\right| = k \) . Then \( \left| {G : K}\right| = \left| {G : H}\ri...
Yes
Proposition 6. The number of conjugates of a subset \( S \) in a group \( G \) is the index of the normalizer of \( S,\left| {G : {N}_{G}\left( S\right) }\right| \) . In particular, the number of conjugates of an element \( s \) of \( G \) is the index of the centralizer of \( s,\left| {G : {C}_{G}\left( s\right) }\rig...
Proof: The second assertion of the proposition follows from the observation that \( {N}_{G}\left( {\{ s\} }\right) = {C}_{G}\left( s\right) \) .
No
Theorem 7. (The Class Equation) Let \( G \) be a finite group and let \( {g}_{1},{g}_{2},\ldots ,{g}_{r} \) be representatives of the distinct conjugacy classes of \( G \) not contained in the center \( Z\left( G\right) \) of \( G \) . Then\n\n\[ \left| G\right| = \left| {Z\left( G\right) }\right| + \mathop{\sum }\limi...
Proof: As noted in Example 2 above the element \( \{ x\} \) is a conjugacy class of size 1 if and only if \( x \in Z\left( G\right) \), since then \( {gx}{g}^{-1} = x \) for all \( g \in G \) . Let \( Z\left( G\right) = \left\{ {1,{z}_{2},\ldots ,{z}_{m}}\right\} \) , let \( {\mathcal{K}}_{1},{\mathcal{K}}_{2},\ldots ,...
Yes
Theorem 8. If \( p \) is a prime and \( P \) is a group of prime power order \( {p}^{\alpha } \) for some \( \alpha \geq 1 \) , then \( P \) has a nontrivial center: \( Z\left( P\right) \neq 1 \) .
Proof: By the class equation\n\n\[ \left| P\right| = \left| {Z\left( P\right) }\right| + \mathop{\sum }\limits_{{i = 1}}^{r}\left| {P : {C}_{P}\left( {g}_{i}\right) }\right| \]\n\nwhere \( {g}_{1},\ldots ,{g}_{r} \) are representatives of the distinct non-central conjugacy classes. By definition, \( {C}_{P}\left( {g}_{...
Yes
Corollary 9. If \( \\left| P\\right| = {p}^{2} \) for some prime \( p \), then \( P \) is abelian. More precisely, \( P \) is isomorphic to either \( {Z}_{{p}^{2}} \) or \( {Z}_{p} \\times {Z}_{p} \) .
Proof: Since \( Z\\left( P\\right) \\neq 1 \) by the theorem, it follows that \( P/Z\\left( P\\right) \) is cyclic. By Exercise 36, Section 3.1, \( P \) is abelian. If \( P \) has an element of order \( {p}^{2} \), then \( P \) is cyclic. Assume therefore that every nonidentity element of \( P \) has order \( p \) . Le...
Yes
Proposition 10. Let \( \sigma ,\tau \) be elements of the symmetric group \( {S}_{n} \) and suppose \( \sigma \) has cycle decomposition\n\n\[ \left( {{a}_{1}{a}_{2}\ldots {a}_{{k}_{1}}}\right) \left( {{b}_{1}{b}_{2}\ldots {b}_{{k}_{2}}}\right) \ldots \]\n\nThen \( {\tau \sigma }{\tau }^{-1} \) has cycle decomposition\...
Proof: Observe that if \( \sigma \left( i\right) = j \), then\n\n\[ {\tau \sigma }{\tau }^{-1}\left( {\tau \left( i\right) }\right) = \tau \left( j\right) \]\n\nThus, if the ordered pair \( i, j \) appears in the cycle decomposition of \( \sigma \), then the ordered pair \( \tau \left( i\right) ,\tau \left( j\right) \)...
Yes
Proposition 11. Two elements of \( {S}_{n} \) are conjugate in \( {S}_{n} \) if and only if they have the same cycle type. The number of conjugacy classes of \( {S}_{n} \) equals the number of partitions of \( n \) .
Proof: By Proposition 10, conjugate permutations have the same cycle type. Conversely, suppose the permutations \( {\sigma }_{1} \) and \( {\sigma }_{2} \) have the same cycle type. Order the cycles in nondecreasing length, including 1-cycles (if several cycles of \( {\sigma }_{1} \) and \( {\sigma }_{2} \) have the sa...
Yes
Corollary 14. If \( K \) is any subgroup of the group \( G \) and \( g \in G \), then \( K \cong {gK}{g}^{-1} \) . Conjugate elements and conjugate subgroups have the same order.
Proof: Letting \( G = H \) in the proposition shows that conjugation by \( g \in G \) is an automorphism of \( G \), from which the corollary follows.
No
For any subgroup \( H \) of a group \( G \), the quotient group \( {N}_{G}\left( H\right) /{C}_{G}\left( H\right) \) is isomorphic to a subgroup of \( \operatorname{Aut}\left( H\right) \) . In particular, \( G/Z\left( G\right) \) is isomorphic to a subgroup of \( \operatorname{Aut}\left( G\right) \) .
Proof: Since \( H \) is a normal subgroup of the group \( {N}_{G}\left( H\right) \), Proposition 13 (applied with \( {N}_{G}\left( H\right) \) playing the role of \( G \) ) implies the first assertion. The second assertion is the special case when \( H = G \), in which case \( {N}_{G}\left( G\right) = G \) and \( {C}_{...
Yes
Proposition 16. The automorphism group of the cyclic group of order \( n \) is isomorphic to \( {\left( \mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}\right) }^{ \times } \), an abelian group of order \( \varphi \left( n\right) \) (where \( \varphi \) is Euler’s function).
Proof: Let \( x \) be a generator of the cyclic group \( {Z}_{n} \) . If \( \psi \in \operatorname{Aut}\left( {Z}_{n}\right) \), then \( \psi \left( x\right) = {x}^{a} \) for some \( a \in \mathbb{Z} \) and the integer \( a \) uniquely determines \( \psi \) . Denote this automorphism by \( {\psi }_{a} \) . As usual, si...
Yes
Lemma 19. Let \( P \in {Sy}{l}_{p}\left( G\right) \) . If \( Q \) is any \( p \) -subgroup of \( G \), then \( Q \cap {N}_{G}\left( P\right) = Q \cap P \) .
Proof: Let \( H = {N}_{G}\left( P\right) \cap Q \) . Since \( P \leq {N}_{G}\left( P\right) \) it is clear that \( P \cap Q \leq H \), so we must prove the reverse inclusion. Since by definition \( H \leq Q \), this is equivalent to showing \( H \leq P \) . We do this by demonstrating that \( {PH} \) is a \( p \) -subg...
Yes
Corollary 20. Let \( P \) be a Sylow \( p \) -subgroup of \( G \) . Then the following are equivalent:\n\n(1) \( P \) is the unique Sylow \( p \) -subgroup of \( G \), i.e., \( {n}_{p} = 1 \)\n\n(2) \( P \) is normal in \( G \)\n\n(3) \( P \) is characteristic in \( G \)\n\n(4) All subgroups generated by elements of \(...
Proof: If (1) holds, then \( {gP}{g}^{-1} = P \) for all \( g \in G \) since \( {gP}{g}^{-1} \in {Sy}{l}_{p}\left( G\right) \), i.e., \( P \) is normal in \( G \) . Hence (1) implies (2). Conversely, if \( P \trianglelefteq G \) and \( Q \in {\operatorname{Syl}}_{p}\left( G\right) \), then by Sylow’s Theorem there exis...
Yes
Proposition 21. If \( \left| G\right| = {60} \) and \( G \) has more than one Sylow 5-subgroup, then \( G \) is simple.
Proof: Suppose by way of contradiction that \( \left| G\right| = {60} \) and \( {n}_{5} > 1 \) but that there exists \( H \) a normal subgroup of \( G \) with \( H \neq 1 \) or \( G \) . By Sylow’s Theorem the only possibility for \( {n}_{5} \) is 6 . Let \( P \in {\operatorname{Syl}}_{5}\left( G\right) \), so that \( ...
Yes
Proposition 23. If \( G \) is a simple group of order 60, then \( G \cong {A}_{5} \) .
Proof: Let \( G \) be a simple group of order 60, so \( {n}_{2} = 3,5 \) or 15 . Let \( P \in {\operatorname{Syl}}_{2}\left( G\right) \) and let \( N = {N}_{G}\left( P\right) \), so \( \left| {G : N}\right| = {n}_{2} \) . First observe that \( G \) has no proper subgroup \( H \) of index less that 5, as follows: if \( ...
Yes
Proposition 1. If \( {G}_{1},\ldots ,{G}_{n} \) are groups, their direct product is a group of order \( \left| {G}_{1}\right| \left| {G}_{2}\right| \cdots \left| {G}_{n}\right| \) (if any \( {G}_{i} \) is infinite, so is the direct product).
Proof: Let \( G = {G}_{1} \times {G}_{2} \times \cdots \times {G}_{n} \) . The proof that the group axioms hold for \( G \) is straightforward since each axiom is a consequence of the fact that the same axiom holds in each factor, \( {G}_{i} \), and the operation on \( G \) is defined componentwise. For example, the as...
Yes
For each fixed \( i \) the set of elements of \( G \) which have the identity of \( {G}_{j} \) in the \( {j}^{\text{th }} \) position for all \( j \neq i \) and arbitrary elements of \( {G}_{i} \) in position \( i \) is a subgroup of \( G \) isomorphic to \( {G}_{i} \):
Since the operation in \( G \) is defined componentwise, it follows easily from the subgroup criterion that \( \left\{ {\left( {1,1,\ldots ,1,{g}_{i},1,\ldots ,1}\right) \mid {g}_{i} \in {G}_{i}}\right\} \) is a subgroup of \( G \) . Furthermore, the map \( {g}_{i} \mapsto \left( {1,1,\ldots ,1,{g}_{i},1,\ldots ,1}\rig...
Yes
Theorem 3. (Fundamental Theorem of Finitely Generated Abelian Groups) Let \( G \) be a finitely generated abelian group. Then (1)\n\n\[ G \cong {\mathbb{Z}}^{r} \times {Z}_{{n}_{1}} \times {Z}_{{n}_{2}} \times \cdots \times {Z}_{{n}_{s}} \]\n\nfor some integers \( r,{n}_{1},{n}_{2},\ldots ,{n}_{s} \) satisfying the fol...
Proof: We shall derive this theorem in Section 12.1 as a consequence of a more general classification theorem. For finite groups we shall give an alternate proof at the end of Section 6.1.
No
Proposition 6. Let \( m, n \in {\mathbb{Z}}^{ + } \). (1) \( {Z}_{m} \times {Z}_{n} \cong {Z}_{mn} \) if and only if \( \left( {m, n}\right) = 1 \).
Proof: Since (2) is an easy exercise using (1) and induction on \( k \), we concentrate on proving (1). Let \( {Z}_{m} = \langle x\rangle ,{Z}_{n} = \langle y\rangle \) and let \( l = \) l.c.m. \( \left( {m, n}\right) \) . Note that \( l = {mn} \) if and only if \( \left( {m, n}\right) = 1 \) . Let \( {x}^{a}{y}^{b} \)...
No
Proposition 7. Let \( G \) be a group, let \( x, y \in G \) and let \( H \leq G \) . Then\n\n(1) \( {xy} = {yx}\left\lbrack {x, y}\right\rbrack \) (in particular, \( {xy} = {yx} \) if and only if \( \left\lbrack {x, y}\right\rbrack = 1 \) ).
Proof: (1) This is immediate from the definition of \( \left\lbrack {x, y}\right\rbrack \) .
No
Proposition 8. Let \( H \) and \( K \) be subgroups of the group \( G \). The number of distinct ways of writing each element of the set \( {HK} \) in the form \( {hk} \), for some \( h \in H \) and \( k \in K \) is \( \left| {H \cap K}\right| \). In particular, if \( H \cap K = 1 \), then each element of \( {HK} \) ca...
Proof: Exercise.
No
Theorem 9. Suppose \( G \) is a group with subgroups \( H \) and \( K \) such that\n\n(1) \( H \) and \( K \) are normal in \( G \), and\n\n(2) \( H \cap K = 1 \).\n\nThen \( {HK} \cong H \times K \) .
Proof: Observe that by hypothesis (1), \( {HK} \) is a subgroup of \( G \) (see Corollary 3.15). Let \( h \in H \) and let \( k \in K \) . Since \( H \trianglelefteq G,{k}^{-1}{hk} \in H \), so that \( {h}^{-1}\left( {{k}^{-1}{hk}}\right) \in H \) . Similarly, \( \left( {{h}^{-1}{k}^{-1}h}\right) k \in K \) . Since \( ...
Yes
Theorem 10. Let \( H \) and \( K \) be groups and let \( \varphi \) be a homomorphism from \( K \) into Aut \( \left( H\right) \) . Let \( \cdot \) denote the (left) action of \( K \) on \( H \) determined by \( \varphi \) . Let \( G \) be the set of ordered pairs \( \left( {h, k}\right) \) with \( h \in H \) and \( k ...
Proof: It is straightforward to check that \( G \) is a group under this multiplication using the fact that \( \cdot \) is an action of \( K \) on \( H \) . For example, the associative law is verified as follows:\n\n\[ \left( {\left( {a, x}\right) \left( {b, y}\right) }\right) \left( {c, z}\right) = \left( {{ax} \cdot...
No
Proposition 11. Let \( H \) and \( K \) be groups and let \( \varphi : K \rightarrow \operatorname{Aut}\left( H\right) \) be a homomorphism. Then the following are equivalent:\n\n(1) the identity (set) map between \( H \rtimes K \) and \( H \times K \) is a group homomorphism (hence an isomorphism)\n\n(2) \( \varphi \)...
Proof: \( \left( 1\right) \Rightarrow \left( 2\right) \) By definition of the group operation in \( H \rtimes K \)\n\n\[ \left( {{h}_{1},{k}_{1}}\right) \left( {{h}_{2},{k}_{2}}\right) = \left( {{h}_{1}{k}_{1} \cdot {h}_{2},{k}_{1}{k}_{2}}\right) \]\n\nfor all \( {h}_{1},{h}_{2} \in H \) and \( {k}_{1},{k}_{2} \in K \)...
Yes
Theorem 12. Suppose \( G \) is a group with subgroups \( H \) and \( K \) such that\n\n(1) \( H \trianglelefteq G \), and\n\n(2) \( H \cap K = 1 \) .\n\nLet \( \varphi : K \rightarrow \operatorname{Aut}\left( H\right) \) be the homomorphism defined by mapping \( k \in K \) to the automorphism of left conjugation by \( ...
Proof: Note that since \( H \trianglelefteq G,{HK} \) is a subgroup of \( G \) . By Proposition 8 every element of \( {HK} \) can be written uniquely in the form \( {hk} \), for some \( h \in H \) and \( k \in K \) . Thus the map \( {hk} \mapsto \left( {h, k}\right) \) is a set bijection from \( {HK} \) onto \( H \rtim...
Yes
Let \( p \) be a prime and let \( P \) be a group of order \( {p}^{a}, a \geq 1 \) . Then\n\n(1) The center of \( P \) is nontrivial: \( Z\left( P\right) \neq 1 \) .\n\n(2) If \( H \) is a nontrivial normal subgroup of \( P \) then \( H \) intersects the center non-trivially: \( H \cap Z\left( P\right) \neq 1 \) . In p...
These results rely ultimately on the class equation and it may be useful for the reader to review Section 4.3.\n\nPart 1 is Theorem 8 of Chapter 4 and is also the special case of part 2 when \( H = P \) . We therefore begin by proving (2); we shall not quote Theorem 8 of Chapter 4 although the argument that follows is ...
Yes
Proposition 2. Let \( p \) be a prime and let \( P \) be a group of order \( {p}^{a} \) . Then \( P \) is nilpotent of nilpotence class at most \( a - 1 \) .
Proof: For each \( i \geq 0, P/{Z}_{i}\left( P\right) \) is a \( p \) -group, so\n\n\[ \text{if}\left| {P/{Z}_{i}\left( P\right) }\right| > 1\text{then}Z\left( {P/{Z}_{i}\left( P\right) }\right) \neq 1 \]\n\nby Theorem 1(1). Thus if \( {Z}_{i}\left( P\right) \neq G \) then \( \left| {{Z}_{i + 1}\left( P\right) }\right|...
Yes
Theorem 3. Let \( G \) be a finite group, let \( {p}_{1},{p}_{2},\ldots ,{p}_{s} \) be the distinct primes dividing its order and let \( {P}_{i} \in {\operatorname{Syl}}_{{p}_{i}}\left( G\right) ,1 \leq i \leq s \) . Then the following are equivalent:\n\n(1) \( G \) is nilpotent\n\n(2) if \( H < G \) then \( H < {N}_{G...
Proof: The proof that (1) implies (2) is the same argument as for \( p \) -groups - the only fact we needed was if \( G \) is nilpotent then so is \( G/Z\left( G\right) \) - so the details are omitted (cf. the exercises).\n\nTo show that (2) implies (3) let \( P = {P}_{i} \) for some \( i \) and let \( N = {N}_{G}\left...
No
Proposition 5. If \( G \) is a finite group such that for all positive integers \( n \) dividing its order, \( G \) contains at most \( n \) elements \( x \) satisfying \( {x}^{n} = 1 \), then \( G \) is cyclic.
Proof: Let \( \left| G\right| = {p}_{1}^{{\alpha }_{1}}\cdots {p}_{s}^{{\alpha }_{s}} \) and let \( {P}_{i} \) be a Sylow \( {p}_{i} \) -subgroup of \( G \) for \( i = 1,2,\ldots, s \) . Since \( {p}_{i}^{{\alpha }_{i}}\left| \right| G| \) and the \( {p}_{i}^{{\alpha }_{i}} \) elements of \( {P}_{i} \) are solutions of...
Yes
Proposition 6. (Frattini’s Argument) Let \( G \) be a finite group, let \( H \) be a normal subgroup of \( G \) and let \( P \) be a Sylow \( p \) -subgroup of \( H \) . Then \( G = H{N}_{G}\left( P\right) \) and \( \left| {G : H}\right| \) divides \( \left| {{N}_{G}\left( P\right) }\right| \) .
Proof: By Corollary 3.15, \( H{N}_{G}\left( P\right) \) is a subgroup of \( G \) and \( H{N}_{G}\left( P\right) = {N}_{G}\left( P\right) H \) since \( H \) is a normal subgroup of \( G \) . Let \( g \in G \) . Since \( {P}^{g} \leq {H}^{g} = H \), both \( P \) and \( {P}^{g} \) are Sylow \( p \) -subgroups of \( H \) ....
Yes
Proposition 7. A finite group is nilpotent if and only if every maximal subgroup is normal.
Proof: Let \( G \) be a finite nilpotent group and let \( M \) be a maximal subgroup of \( G \) . As in the proof of Theorem 1, since \( M < {N}_{G}\left( M\right) \) (by Theorem 3(2)) maximality of \( M \) forces \( {N}_{G}\left( M\right) = G \), i.e., \( M \trianglelefteq G \) .\n\nConversely, assume every maximal su...
Yes
Theorem 8. A group \( G \) is nilpotent if and only if \( {G}^{n} = 1 \) for some \( n \geq 0 \) . More precisely, \( G \) is nilpotent of class \( c \) if and only if \( c \) is the smallest nonnegative integer such that \( {G}^{c} = 1 \) . If \( G \) is nilpotent of class \( c \) then\n\n\[ \n{Z}_{i}\left( G\right) \...
Proof: This is proved by a straightforward induction on the length of either the upper or lower central series.
No
Theorem 9. A group \( G \) is solvable if and only if \( {G}^{\left( n\right) } = 1 \) for some \( n \geq 0 \) .
Proof: Assume first that \( G \) is solvable and so possesses a series\n\n\[ 1 = {H}_{0} \trianglelefteq {H}_{1} \trianglelefteq \cdots \trianglelefteq {H}_{s} = G \]\n\nsuch that each factor \( {H}_{i + 1}/{H}_{i} \) is abelian. We prove by induction that \( {G}^{\left( i\right) } \leq {H}_{s - i} \) . This is true fo...
Yes
Proposition 10. Let \( G \) and \( K \) be groups, let \( H \) be a subgroup of \( G \) and let \( \varphi : G \rightarrow K \) be a surjective homomorphism.\n\n(1) \( {H}^{\left( i\right) } \leq {G}^{\left( i\right) } \) for all \( i \geq 0 \) . In particular, if \( G \) is solvable, then so is \( H \), i.e., subgroup...
Proof: Part 1 follows from the observation that since \( H \leq G \), by definition of commutator subgroups, \( \left\lbrack {H, H}\right\rbrack \leq \left\lbrack {G, G}\right\rbrack \), i.e., \( {H}^{\left( 1\right) } \leq {G}^{\left( 1\right) } \) . Then, by induction,\n\n\[ \n{H}^{\left( i\right) } \leq {G}^{\left( ...
Yes
Theorem 11. Let \( G \) be a finite group.\n\n(1) (Burnside) If \( \left| G\right| = {p}^{a}{q}^{b} \) for some primes \( p \) and \( q \), then \( G \) is solvable.
We shall prove Burnside’s Theorem in Chapter 19 and deduce Philip Hall’s generalization of it.
No
Lemma 13. In a finite group \( G \) if \( {n}_{p} ≢ 1\left( {\;\operatorname{mod}\;{p}^{2}}\right) \), then there are distinct Sylow \( p \) -subgroups \( P \) and \( R \) of \( G \) such that \( P \cap R \) is of index \( p \) in both \( P \) and \( R \) (hence is normal in each).
Proof: The argument is an easy refinement of the proof of the congruence part of Sylow’s Theorem (cf. the exercises at the end of Section 4.5). Let \( P \) act by conjugation on the set \( {\operatorname{Syl}}_{p}\left( G\right) \) . Let \( {\mathcal{O}}_{1},\ldots ,{\mathcal{O}}_{s} \) be the orbits under this action ...
Yes
Theorem 17. Let \( G \) be a group, \( S \) a set and \( \varphi : S \rightarrow G \) a set map. Then there is a unique group homomorphism \( \Phi : F\left( S\right) \rightarrow G \) such that the following diagram commutes:
\( \textit{Proof: Such a map }\Phi \) must satisfy \( \Phi \left( {{s}_{1}^{{\epsilon }_{1}}{s}_{2}^{{\epsilon }_{2}}\ldots {s}_{n}^{{\epsilon }_{n}}}\right) = \varphi {\left( {s}_{1}\right) }^{{\epsilon }_{1}}\varphi {\left( {s}_{2}\right) }^{{\epsilon }_{2}}\ldots \varphi {\left( {s}_{n}\right) }^{{\epsilon }_{n}} \)...
Yes
Corollary 18. \( F\\left( S\\right) \) is unique up to a unique isomorphism which is the identity map on the set \( S \) .
Proof: This follows from the universal property. Suppose \( F\\left( S\\right) \) and \( {F}^{\\prime }\\left( S\\right) \) are two free groups generated by \( S \) . Since \( S \) is contained in both \( F\\left( S\\right) \) and \( {F}^{\\prime }\\left( S\\right) \), we have natural injections \( S \\hookrightarrow {...
Yes
Proposition 1. Let \( R \) be a ring. Then\n\n(1) \( {0a} = {a0} = 0 \) for all \( a \in R \) .
Proof: These all follow from the distributive laws and cancellation in the additive group \( R \) . For example,(1) follows from \( {0a} = \left( {0 + 0}\right) a = {0a} + {0a} \) .
No
Proposition 2. Assume \( a, b \) and \( c \) are elements of any ring with \( a \) not a zero divisor. If \( {ab} = {ac} \), then either \( a = 0 \) or \( b = c \) (i.e., if \( a \neq 0 \) we can cancel the \( a \) ’s). In particular, if \( a, b, c \) are any elements in an integral domain and \( {ab} = {ac} \), then e...
Proof: If \( {ab} = {ac} \) then \( a\left( {b - c}\right) = 0 \) so either \( a = 0 \) or \( b - c = 0 \) . The second statement follows from the first and the definition of an integral domain.
Yes
Corollary 3. Any finite integral domain is a field.
Proof: Let \( R \) be a finite integral domain and let \( a \) be a nonzero element of \( R \) . By the cancellation law the map \( x \mapsto {ax} \) is an injective function. Since \( R \) is finite this map is also surjective. In particular, there is some \( b \in R \) such that \( {ab} = 1 \), i.e., \( a \) is a uni...
Yes
Proposition 4. Let \( R \) be an integral domain and let \( p\left( x\right), q\left( x\right) \) be nonzero elements of \( R\left\lbrack x\right\rbrack \) . Then\n\n(1) degree \( p\left( x\right) q\left( x\right) = \) degree \( p\left( x\right) + \) degree \( q\left( x\right) \),\n\n(2) the units of \( R\left\lbrack x...
Proof: If \( R \) has no zero divisors then neither does \( R\left\lbrack x\right\rbrack \) ; if \( p\left( x\right) \) and \( q\left( x\right) \) are polynomials with leading terms \( {a}_{n}{x}^{n} \) and \( {b}_{m}{x}^{m} \), respectively, then the leading term of \( p\left( x\right) q\left( x\right) \) is \( {a}_{n...
Yes
(1) The image of \( \varphi \) is a subring of \( S \) .
Proof: (1) If \( {s}_{1},{s}_{2} \in \operatorname{im}\varphi \) then \( {s}_{1} = \varphi \left( {r}_{1}\right) \) and \( {s}_{2} = \varphi \left( {r}_{2}\right) \) for some \( {r}_{1},{r}_{2} \in R \) . Then \( \varphi \left( {{r}_{1} - {r}_{2}}\right) = {s}_{1} - {s}_{2} \) and \( \varphi \left( {{r}_{1}{r}_{2}}\rig...
Yes
(1) (The First Isomorphism Theorem for Rings) If \( \varphi : R \rightarrow S \) is a homomorphism of rings, then the kernel of \( \varphi \) is an ideal of \( R \), the image of \( \varphi \) is a subring of \( S \) and \( R/\ker \varphi \) is isomorphic as a ring to \( \varphi \left( R\right) \) .
Proof: This is just a matter of collecting previous calculations. If \( I \) is the kernel of \( \varphi \), then the cosets (under addition) of \( I \) are precisely the fibers of \( \varphi \) . In particular, the cosets \( r + I, s + I \) and \( {rs} + I \) are the fibers of \( \varphi \) over \( \varphi \left( r\ri...
Yes
Proposition 9. Let \( I \) be an ideal of \( R \). (1) \( I = R \) if and only if \( I \) contains a unit.
Proof: (1) If \( I = R \) then \( I \) contains the unit 1. Conversely, if \( u \) is a unit in \( I \) with inverse \( v \), then for any \( r \in R \)\n\n\[ r = r \cdot 1 = r\left( {vu}\right) = \left( {rv}\right) u \in I \]\n\nhence \( R = I \).
Yes
Corollary 10. If \( R \) is a field then any nonzero ring homomorphism from \( R \) into another ring is an injection.
Proof: The kernel of a ring homomorphism is an ideal. The kernel of a nonzero homomorphism is a proper ideal hence is 0 by the proposition.
Yes
Proposition 11. In a ring with identity every proper ideal is contained in a maximal ideal.
Proof: Let \( R \) be a ring with identity and let \( I \) be a proper ideal (so \( R \) cannot be the zero ring, i.e., \( 1 \neq 0 \) ). Let \( \mathcal{S} \) be the set of all proper ideals of \( R \) which contain \( I \) . Then \( \mathcal{S} \) is nonempty \( \left( {I \in \mathcal{S}}\right) \) and is partially o...
Yes
Proposition 12. Assume \( R \) is commutative. The ideal \( M \) is a maximal ideal if and only if the quotient ring \( R/M \) is a field.
Proof: This follows from the Lattice Isomorphism Theorem together with Proposition 9(2). The ideal \( M \) is maximal if and only if there are no ideals \( I \) with \( M \subset I \subset R \) . By the Lattice Isomorphism Theorem the ideals of \( R \) containing \( M \) correspond bijectively with the ideals of \( R/M...
Yes
Proposition 13. Assume \( R \) is commutative. Then the ideal \( P \) is a prime ideal in \( R \) if and only if the quotient ring \( R/P \) is an integral domain.
Proof: This proof is simply a matter of translating the definition of a prime ideal into the language of quotients. The ideal \( P \) is prime if and only if \( P \neq R \) and whenever \( {ab} \in P \), then either \( a \in P \) or \( b \in P \) . Use the bar notation for elements of \( R/P \) : \( \bar{r} = r + P \) ...
Yes
Corollary 14. Assume \( R \) is commutative. Every maximal ideal of \( R \) is a prime ideal.
Proof: If \( M \) is a maximal ideal then \( R/M \) is a field by Proposition 12. A field is an integral domain so the corollary follows from Proposition 13.
Yes
Corollary 16. Let \( R \) be an integral domain and let \( Q \) be the field of fractions of \( R \) . If a field \( F \) contains a subring \( {R}^{\prime } \) isomorphic to \( R \) then the subfield of \( F \) generated by \( {R}^{\prime } \) is isomorphic to \( Q \) .
Proof: Let \( \varphi : R \cong {R}^{\prime } \subseteq F \) be a (ring) isomorphism of \( R \) to \( {R}^{\prime } \) . In particular, \( \varphi : R \rightarrow F \) is an injective homomorphism from \( R \) into the field \( F \) . Let \( \Phi : Q \rightarrow F \) be the extension of \( \varphi \) to \( Q \) as in t...
Yes
Theorem 17. (Chinese Remainder Theorem) Let \( {A}_{1},{A}_{2},\ldots ,{A}_{k} \) be ideals in \( R \) . The map \( R \rightarrow R/{A}_{1} \times R/{A}_{2} \times \cdots \times R/{A}_{k}\; \) defined by \( \;r \mapsto \left( {r + {A}_{1}, r + {A}_{2},\ldots, r + {A}_{k}}\right) \) is a ring homomorphism with kernel \(...
Proof: We first prove this for \( k = 2 \) ; the general case will follow by induction. Let \( A = {A}_{1} \) and \( B = {A}_{2} \) . Consider the map \( \varphi : R \rightarrow R/A \times R/B \) defined by \( \varphi \left( r\right) = \left( {r{\;\operatorname{mod}\;A}, r{\;\operatorname{mod}\;B}}\right) \), where \( ...
Yes
Corollary 18. Let \( n \) be a positive integer and let \( {p}_{1}{}^{{\alpha }_{1}}{p}_{2}{}^{{\alpha }_{2}}\ldots {p}_{k}{}^{{\alpha }_{k}} \) be its factorization into powers of distinct primes. Then\n\n\[ \n\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z} \cong \left( {\mathbb{Z}/{p}_{1}{}^{{\alpha }_{1}}\mathbb{Z}}\right) \times \left( {\m...
If we compare orders on the two sides of this last isomorphism, we obtain the formula\n\n\[ \n\varphi \left( n\right) = \varphi \left( {{p}_{1}{}^{{\alpha }_{1}}}\right) \varphi \left( {{p}_{2}{}^{{\alpha }_{2}}}\right) \ldots \varphi \left( {{p}_{k}{}^{{\alpha }_{k}}}\right)\n\]\n\nfor the Euler \( \varphi \) -functio...
Yes
Proposition 1. Every ideal in a Euclidean Domain is principal. More precisely, if \( I \) is any nonzero ideal in the Euclidean Domain \( R \) then \( I = \left( d\right) \), where \( d \) is any nonzero element of \( I \) of minimum norm.
Proof: If \( I \) is the zero ideal, there is nothing to prove. Otherwise let \( d \) be any nonzero element of \( I \) of minimum norm (such a \( d \) exists since the set \( \{ N\left( a\right) \mid a \in I\} \) has a minimum element by the Well Ordering of \( \mathbb{Z} \) ). Clearly \( \left( d\right) \subseteq I \...
Yes
Proposition 3. Let \( R \) be an integral domain. If two elements \( d \) and \( {d}^{\prime } \) of \( R \) generate the same principal ideal, i.e., \( \left( d\right) = \left( {d}^{\prime }\right) \), then \( {d}^{\prime } = {ud} \) for some unit \( u \) in \( R \) . In particular, if \( d \) and \( {d}^{\prime } \) ...
Proof: This is clear if either \( d \) or \( {d}^{\prime } \) is zero so we may assume \( d \) and \( {d}^{\prime } \) are nonzero. Since \( d \in \left( {d}^{\prime }\right) \) there is some \( x \in R \) such that \( d = x{d}^{\prime } \) . Since \( {d}^{\prime } \in \left( d\right) \) there is some \( y \in R \) suc...
Yes
Theorem 4. Let \( R \) be a Euclidean Domain and let \( a \) and \( b \) be nonzero elements of \( R \). Let \( d = {r}_{n} \) be the last nonzero remainder in the Euclidean Algorithm for \( a \) and \( b \) described at the beginning of this chapter. Then\n\n(1) \( d \) is a greatest common divisor of \( a \) and \( b...
Proof: By Proposition 1, the ideal generated by \( a \) and \( b \) is principal so \( a, b \) do have a greatest common divisor, namely any element which generates the (principal) ideal \( \left( {a, b}\right) \). Both parts of the theorem will follow therefore once we show \( d = {r}_{n} \) generates this ideal, i.e....
Yes
Proposition 5. Let \( R \) be an integral domain that is not a field. If \( R \) is a Euclidean Domain then there are universal side divisors in \( R \) .
Proof: Suppose \( R \) is Euclidean with respect to some norm \( N \) and let \( u \) be an element of \( R - \widetilde{R} \) (which is nonempty since \( R \) is not a field) of minimal norm. For any \( x \in R \) , write \( x = {qu} + r \) where \( r \) is either 0 or \( N\left( r\right) < N\left( u\right) \) . In ei...
Yes
Proposition 6. Let \( R \) be a Principal Ideal Domain and let \( a \) and \( b \) be nonzero elements of \( R \) . Let \( d \) be a generator for the principal ideal generated by \( a \) and \( b \) . Then\n\n(1) \( d \) is a greatest common divisor of \( a \) and \( b \)\n\n(2) \( d \) can be written as an \( R \) -l...
Proof: This is just Propositions 2 and 3.
No
Proposition 7. Every nonzero prime ideal in a Principal Ideal Domain is a maximal ideal.
Proof: Let \( \left( p\right) \) be a nonzero prime ideal in the Principal Ideal Domain \( R \) and let \( I = \left( m\right) \) be any ideal containing \( \left( p\right) \) . We must show that \( I = \left( p\right) \) or \( I = R \) . Now \( p \in \left( m\right) \) so \( p = {rm} \) for some \( r \in R \) . Since ...
Yes
Corollary 8. If \( R \) is any commutative ring such that the polynomial ring \( R\left\lbrack x\right\rbrack \) is a Principal Ideal Domain (or a Euclidean Domain), then \( R \) is necessarily a field.
Proof: Assume \( R\left\lbrack x\right\rbrack \) is a Principal Ideal Domain. Since \( R \) is a subring of \( R\left\lbrack x\right\rbrack \) then \( R \) must be an integral domain (recall that \( R\left\lbrack x\right\rbrack \) has an identity if and only if \( R \) does). The ideal \( \left( x\right) \) is a nonzer...
Yes
Proposition 9. The integral domain \( R \) is a P.I.D. if and only if \( R \) has a Dedekind-Hasse norm.
Proof: Let \( I \) be any nonzero ideal in \( R \) and let \( b \) be a nonzero element of \( I \) with \( N\left( b\right) \) minimal. Suppose \( a \) is any nonzero element in \( I \), so that the ideal \( \left( {a, b}\right) \) is contained in \( I \) . Then the Dedekind-Hasse condition on \( N \) and the minimalit...
No
Proposition 10. In an integral domain a prime element is always irreducible.
Proof: Suppose \( \left( p\right) \) is a nonzero prime ideal and \( p = {ab} \) . Then \( {ab} = p \in \left( p\right) \), so by definition of prime ideal one of \( a \) or \( b \), say \( a \), is in \( \left( p\right) \) . Thus \( a = {pr} \) for some \( r \) . This implies \( p = {ab} = {prb} \) so \( {rb} = 1 \) a...
Yes
Proposition 11. In a Principal Ideal Domain a nonzero element is a prime if and only if it is irreducible.
Proof: We have shown above that prime implies irreducible. We must show conversely that if \( p \) is irreducible, then \( p \) is a prime, i.e., the ideal \( \left( p\right) \) is a prime ideal. If \( M \) is any ideal containing \( \left( p\right) \) then by hypothesis \( M = \left( m\right) \) is a principal ideal. ...
Yes
Proposition 12. In a Unique Factorization Domain a nonzero element is a prime if and only if it is irreducible.
Proof: Let \( R \) be a Unique Factorization Domain. Since by Proposition 10, primes of \( R \) are irreducible it remains to prove that each irreducible element is a prime. Let \( p \) be an irreducible in \( R \) and assume \( p \mid {ab} \) for some \( a, b \in R \) ; we must show that \( p \) divides either \( a \)...
Yes
Proposition 13. Let \( a \) and \( b \) be two nonzero elements of the Unique Factorization Domain \( R \) and suppose\n\n\[ a = u{p}_{1}{}^{{e}_{1}}{p}_{2}{}^{{e}_{2}}\cdots {p}_{n}{}^{{e}_{n}}\;\text{ and }\;b = v{p}_{1}{}^{{f}_{1}}{p}_{2}{}^{{f}_{2}}\cdots {p}_{n}{}^{{f}_{n}} \]\n\nare prime factorizations for \( a ...
Proof: Since the exponents of each of the primes occurring in \( d \) are no larger than the exponents occurring in the factorizations of both \( a \) and \( b, d \) divides both \( a \) and \( b \) . To show that \( d \) is a greatest common divisor, let \( c \) be any common divisor of \( a \) and \( b \) and let \( ...
Yes
Corollary 15. (Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic) The integers \( \mathbb{Z} \) are a Unique Factorization Domain.
Proof: The integers \( \mathbb{Z} \) are a Euclidean Domain, hence are a Unique Factorization Domain by the theorem.
Yes